The invention relates to a container crane installation which is intended to transfer containers between different standing positions, especially between standing positions in the hull or on the deck of a container transport ship for the one part and standing positions on the quay or on transport means driving on the quay for the other part, and which is constructed for this purpose with a hoist cable carrier drivable along at least one horizontal axis by means of a travel mechanism and a container reception frame, hereinafter called spreader, suspended on hoist cables of the hoist cable carrier and displaceable vertically by means of a cable hoist mechanism.
With increasing size of container ships the crane installations used for loading and unloading these ships also become ever larger. The crane driver thus necessarily comes to an increasing distance from the critical point, that is the entry of the spreader or container into the standing position in each case, that is into the ship's compartment. His angle of view becomes ever more unfavourable, because he must look nearly vertically downwards, whereby he loses the perspective view. He therefore does not know how far the container or spreader is still from the guide arranged at the beginning of the compartment. The difficulties are increased by the fact that the spreader hanging on the hoist cable is subject to unavoidable swinging movement and frequently also deflections by wind influences. Only very skilled crane drivers can think so far in advance that they can master the problem of swing.